It's Tuesday, the 19th of July, and I'm calling to talk about the momentum that we continue to build toward our exit from Chapter 11. I'd also like to talk about the harsh economic environment that continues to challenge the industry, and the impact that it's having on our company and our competitors within the business.

We have often, on the call, talked about the fundamental changes the airline industry is undergoing, the pressure on costs and the pressure on revenue that continues in a very highly competitive and oversupplied market.

When we filed for the protection of the court almost three years ago, we understood then that some of United's problems were of our own making. But we also clearly recognized that many of our challenges were common for all participants across the airline industry, and especially for our peers among the major legacy network carriers.

We made the decision to address the business realities that we were facing without fooling ourselves into thinking that they may just go away. We met the challenges head-on -- as we continue to do so -- and we did the very difficult work to reposition our company in a competitive place.

That work has been extremely difficult for everyone at United and was sometimes criticized…and we know now that we must maintain a continuous focus on cost control and revenue improvement.

What we are seeing today is other airlines in the business -- all of them in a better competitive position than we were when we entered bankruptcy -- being forced to confront many of the same industry challenges that we have had to face.

For example, there has recently been speculation in the press about the possibility of Delta filing for Chapter 11 protection.

And the July 19th issue of USA Today reports on Northwest Airlines' efforts to avoid Chapter 11.

As that particular news article points out, two years ago, Northwest was modestly profitable. Two years ago, our company was losing billions of dollars a year.

The reporter in the USA Today article checks off Northwest's problems -- and I quote -- “fuel prices, the highest unit labor costs in the industry, stubbornly low fares, large pension obligations and big debt payments that are coming due.”

It all sounds very familiar.

These difficult and adverse conditions in our industry are not going to go away any time soon.

No one in the industry predicted fuel costs would reach $60-a-barrel and stay there. Fuel continues to be a huge challenge for our company along with everyone else in the business. But without the hard work that we have done over the last several years to reduce our costs, improve our revenue and restructure the way we approach our business and do our business and compete, United would not even be here to grapple with this challenge.

There was no shortcut, no easy way out of our problems, but because we were determined to do everything necessary to fix our company, we are in a far better competitive position today.

Not only are we still here, we can now see the potential upside for United's business as we emerge from bankruptcy and move into the future as a much more competitive business.

United will continue to face the realities and challenges of the airline business without flinching from the task of finding solutions -- wherever they may lay -- that is what makes us strong, and it makes us special, and it makes us one company, United.

That's all for now. I'll be talking to you again soon. Until then, stay focused on our customers and on one another, and stay United.